Talk about a bitter rivalry. AT&T and Verizon don’t seem to find a way to get along, and why should they? After all, they are competitors, and there is much at stake. Verizon has increasingly gone after Apple and AT&T in its ads to make it clear that Verizon is the best network around. AT&T first complained about it. Then launched a lawsuit. Verizon responded by inviting AT&T to improve its network. Unfortunately for AT&T, the lawsuit has not been as successful as it was hoped. So it’s no wonder the company has been looking for other ways to get even with Verizon.

Here is the ad that made AT&T lose its mind:

The commercial ad is pretty clear. Verizon is a better network than AT&T. It may not be tough for customers to figure out which network is better, but that doesn’t keep wireless companies from trying to position themselves as the best. AT&T may be still mad about it all but has launched a fun ad to respond to Verizon’s claims. Read the rest of this entry »

It’s true that Verizon is working on a phone that is not iPhone and does everything better than iPhone does (according to commercials). It’s also true that the company has not had too many good things to say about AT&T and Apple in the past. But is it really possible to see Apple join forces with Verizon to give its customers something they have been asking for months? According to sources familiar with the issue, Verizon is still very interested in getting its hands on iPhone. The company may have Droid, but it does understand the benefits that a partnership with Apple can bring for Verizon. Switching from AT&T to Verizon may not be as straight forward for Apple as it was the case for Amazon when it moved Kindle from Sprint to AT&T. But the move makes sense for both Apple and Verizon.

There are many iPhone owners who have been hoping for Apple to provide them with alternatives when it comes to picking up a wireless carrier. At the same time, Verizon is growing fast and a number of its customers are interested in purchasing a Verizon iPhone. It’s not as if Verizon is trying to hide its desire to carry the iPhone. Here is what the company had to say about this whole issue:

We obviously would be interested at any point in the future that they would be interested in having us as a partner. Read the rest of this entry »

A certainly nice way to go after every little weakness that iPhone has. Unlike Microsoft, Verizon’s ad campaign actually has some sting to it. The Droid has gotten some great previews from Android fans, but the jury is still out.

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As someone who has owned every single iPhone (generation-wise) that has come out in the past few years, I can tell you that Apple could have done a much better job when it comes to choosing a carrier for this hot gadget. Not giving consumers too many options is never a good idea, and Apple has done just that by making AT&T the exclusive service provider for iPhone. A lot of industry experts have been calling for Apple to dump AT&T for months. Whether it’s been service outages or dropped calls, AT&T hasn’t endear itself to iPhone owners in the past few months. But can Apple dictate terms to the wireless carriers as some believe it could?

Apple iPhone is too good of a gadget to have an exclusive carrier. That’s why the antitrust review of Apple – AT&T contract by the Congress has been interesting to watch. I don’t believe that Apple should drop AT&T completely. But there is no question that folks should have the option to get iPhone from other carriers if they want. There were talks a few months ago about Apple building a nano iPhone exclusively for Verizon but that hasn’t materialized yet. Add to that the fact that AT&T is trying very hard to extend its exclusive deal with Apple by another year, and we have got an interesting situation.

AT&T has been a good partner for Apple. It has helped the company bring iPhone to millions of homes. But Apple doesn’t owe AT&T any favors. The relationship has probably worked out better for AT&T than Apple (except if you count the fact that AT&T’s reputation has taken a big damage by all the negative talks about its service online and offline). Apple should not and probably will not dump AT&T anytime soon. But it’s never too late to bring other wireless carriers to the table. It’s not just good for business. Apple owe it to its customers!

Your take: will we ever see a Verizon iPhone?

A lot of us iPhone fans have been complaining about the high monthly cost of at&t’s wireless service for iPhone. The device may have been heavily subsidized, but you still end up paying a lot of money for the wireless service (over 24 months). Many industry insiders are now reporting that at&t may be ready to drop its wireless prices by $10 to appeal to recession-wary segment of the market. at&t has come under severe pressure from Apple to step up its game and fight off Verizon. We have been hearing all kinds of rumors about a possible partnership between Apple and Verizon. at&t has the exclusive rights to iPhone. But, nothing is for certain, which could be the top reason behind at&t cutting its margins by about 15%.

Apple is planning big things for iPhone. It has already seen Blackberry outsell iPhone, which is a strong indication that Apple needs to reach out to other wireless carriers to increase its reach in the smart-phone market. By reducing its wireless monthly fees, at&t is banking on two things. For starters, it’s hoping to get more people to sign up for an iPhone contract. At the same time, the more at&t brings to the table, the better chance it may have of keeping iPhone exclusivity for another year (which at&t has been holding out for all along).

The problem is, there are many folks who just don’t trust at&t’s wireless service. You can’t get these people to adopt the iPhone as long as the device is not available on other networks. Apple will inevitably be forced to get other network carriers on board if it wants to grow the iPhone market. Many have argued that it should create a different iPhone line to keep at&t happy as well. I am not sure that will work for at&t. At the same time, I am not sure at&t has enough bargaining power to keep Apple from trying other network carriers. The iPhone is expanding fast, and there is a limit to how many new customers at&t can sign up by dropping its wireless prices. But you won’t hear me complaining about future wireless fee drops. Now if at&t would just reduce the contract length by 50%…

Your take: does at&t have a chance to keep Apple from trying other carriers?